Trolley hanger and method of making the same



Patented Mar. 4, 1924.

Uirn

ORRIS C. HIRTZEL, OF NORTH EAST, PENNSYLVANIA.

TROLLEY HANGER AND METHOD 0F MAKING: THE SAME.

Application nea october 2a 1922. ,serial No. .semea To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, Onnrs C. HIRTZEL, a citizen of the United States, residing at North East, in the county of Erie and State of Pennsylvania, have invented new and useful Improvements in Trolley Hangers and Methods of Making the Same, of which the following is a specification.

Trolley hangers of a common type have a socket for receiving a supporting rod and a groove bar extending lengthwise of the hanger in which is formed a groove for receiving the trolley wire. The side edges of the groove are ordinarily bent around the trolley Wire to secure the hanger to the wire. Two methods have been employed in forming the hangers, particularly the groove portions of the hangers. By one method the groove is formed in the casting. In the other method the groove bar is cast solid and the groove cut in the bar. Where the groove is formed in the casting it usually involves slight irregularities which prevent a nice fit with the trolley wire. Where the bar is cast and then cut the slight warping or bending which usually takes place in the cast bar results in an uneven thickness of the side walls of the groove and consequently an irregular surface over which the trolley must travel. Further the metal usually used for these hangers being brass is more or less porous in casting and its ductility is to some extent interfered with so that the lips or side walls of the groove will stand only a limited amount of bending. Inasmuch as it is desirable to replace the trolley wire in the hanger and this replacement requires the bending or opening of the walls this is a distinct disadvantage. In addition to this, this porous nature interferes to a slight extent with the electrical conductivity of the hanger. With the present invention these difficulties are avoided by casting the hanger of brass in the usual manner and then sub jecting the casting to a forging action which not only condenses the metal so that it is more ductile and thus permits a greater number of changings of the trolley wire but also is shaped so accurately as to permit of the use of comparatively thin walls of the oove. When the bar is cast solid accordingto my invention, it is then forged and the groove milled out. Where this is done the bar after the forging not only has the metal condensed but is so near to alinement the bending quality of the side walls. If

the groove is cast in the bar it is then subjected to a forging action and the forging action not only removes any irregularities in the groove but at the same time condenses and reduces the thickness of the walls of the groove. e

The accompanying drawings illustrate the hanger and method forming the subject matter of the invention as follows Fig. 1 shows a side elevation of a hanger in place on a trolley.

F Fig 2 a section on the line 24-2 in Fig. 3 a side elevation illustrating the cutting of the groove in the'hanger.

Fig. 4 a section of a die for forging the hanger, the die and hanger in place therein being in section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 a similar view the section of the dies being at a point on the line 5-5 as shown in Fig. 1.

v1 marks the groove bar of the hanger, 2 the socket, 3 a supporting rod screwed into the socket in the' usual manner, and 4 va web lextending from the socket along the groove ferred method a groove barvis cast of solid metal 5 as shown in Fig. 3. It is then subjected to a forging action by being forged in dies 6, the dies having the desired shape of the finished exterior walls of the hanger. This forging action not only condenses the metal of the bar but shapes it so that a very thin wall may safely be made. The groove 7 is preferably formedby a cutter 8 as indicated in Fig. 3.

The hanger is used in the usual manner by having the lips or side walls 9 bent around and under thewire 10` the in-turned portions of the lips being suliicient to properly secure the wire.

Inasmuch as the trolley passes over this part of the walls it' is, of course, desirable that these lips be made as thin as practical and of uniform surface. The forging accomplishes this and at the same time condenses the metal making it more ductile and a better conductor. The walls of the groove, therefore, may be opened and In forming the bar according to my prel closed a. greater number of times in the removal and replacement of the Wire, thus adding to the life of the hanger.

What I claim es new is:-

1. The method of forming a trolley hanger having a groove with Walls adapted to close around a trolley Wire which consists in casting the henger of metal with a solid groove bar, condensing and shaping the cast metal of the groove ber by `forging, and 10 then forming the trolley receiving Wire groove therein by cutting.

2. A trolley hanger having a groove ber and with the metal adjacent to the groove shaped and condensed by forging.

In testimony vvhereol ll have hereunto set my hand.

I @REIS C. HRTZEL. 

